If you’re one of the 15 Million Americans out of work, chances are you’re first New Year’s Resolution might be ‚ÄúGet a Job!‚Äù.
In a must read, Free Ebook, from Polly Pearson and the recruiting team at EMC, 100 Tips from Fortune 500 recruiters, outline the their top job seeker tips and top mistakes they see job seekers making.
In the Ebook, 10 EMC recruiters listed their tips to each of the questions.
I did a little work to summarize the responses into some “Top Tips”, based on the number of times a tip or similar tip was repeated by a recruiter. A summary is below:
Top Job Seeker Tips
# 1 Job seeker tip- Networking!
9 out of the 10 recruiters stated that networking, in it’s different forms, was one of their top tips for job seekers. Networking came in multiple flavors from traditional networking on online and social networking, to using sites like LinkedIn, FaceBook, and Twitter.
# 2 job seeker tip – Being Prepared!
8 out of 10 recruiters stated this as being one of their top tips. When the recruiters stated “being prepared”, this included things like having researched the company before the interview, being prepared for the interview (ie, having practiced the most common interview questions), and showing an interest in the company by coming prepared with and asking questions about the company, the department, and the job, in the interview. This of course dove tailed into the following:
Biggest Job Seeker Mistakes -“Not being prepared in the interview”
Based on the above, its’ easy to understand why 10 of 10 recruiters mentioned being prepared as one of the biggest job seeker mistakes. Being prepared also included understanding how to interview, and having a clear objective or reason why you are interviewing for the position.
Word to the Wise… If you want to stand out in the interview, it’s really easy… Be Prepared! (I guess the old Boy Scouts motto is sill relevant!)
Recruiters Favorite “Sources of Hires” РReferrals and Social Networks.
Again, unanimous, 10 of 10 recruiters stated that Referrals or Social Networks were listed in the top tips from each of the recruiters. The favorite sources included everything from job fairs, employee referrals, college career centers, job boards, social networking sites, like LinkedIn, FaceBook and Twitter., etc. What’s interesting and important to note is that job boards were only mentioned in the 4 of the 10 recruiter’s top sources.
The 17 page Ebook has lot’s of great tips and quotes, here are a couple:
Linda Di, “There is no “best” candidate but “best suitable” candidate. A successful outcome for both the company and the candidate is to find out if they are the best match for each other.”
Michelle Flynn, “It will always be the preference of the hiring manager to recruit someone who is known to them. Give yourself the advantage by being a person to them, rather than a [resume].”
Liz Liptrot, ‚ÄúAll people experience what you are going through [as a job seeker]. Whether it is your first job search, you have been hit by the recession, or you are just looking for another career ‚Äì we have all been there. Don’t be embarrassed by your situation and network with anyone and everyone. Remember that most positions are filled through referrals.‚Äù
Terrific summary Jonathan!
LinkedIn is the first place most recruiters I know will go once they get a job req to fill — yet so many people are not yet there on that MVP of job networks.
Thanks for helping to fill the chasm between talent-seeking companies and job seekers with your blog!
Polly Pearson
Polly,
Thanks for the Ebook. I know there are a lot of frustrated job seekers out there.
Unfortunately, there is a lot of, well the best way of saying it is, CRAP advice out there.
Your Ebook, gets right to the heart of the matter.
1. Network with people in the companies you want to work for (ie… if someone wants to work at EMC, they are probably better off networking with the recruiters or employees of EMC than responding to a job listing on a job board).
2. Do your research about the company, and know exactly whay you want to work there. If you don’t know that, don’t bother applying, because even if you do get a call from a recruiter, you won’t get past the interview.
Thanks again!